


I'll Surely Drown

by Polaroid_Memories



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Drinking to Cope, Excessive Drinking, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-19 23:55:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11908887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polaroid_Memories/pseuds/Polaroid_Memories
Summary: A fill from the kinkmeme!"Gladio had a drinking and/or drug problem in his teens, got over it for a while there, and then the fall of Insomnia triggers a relapse.+ At least one bro knows his history and the warning signs+++ Obligatory whump and H/C, my soul for OT4 but any bro's good"https://ffxv-kinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/4113.html?thread=6301201#cmt6301201





	I'll Surely Drown

He’d just wanted to clear his head, try and empty out all the noise. Everything was getting too much to process. Insomnia had been absolutely annihilated, he missed his sister, his dad was gone, and Noctis was starting to shut down again. Instead of heading straight to Lestallum to meet with Iris they were at Noctis’s whim. Avoiding responsibility again, it made Gladiolus furious, but he also understood. Noctis had the weight of the whole world on his shoulders, as much as being his Shield was a crushing responsibility, being a King to a fallen kingdom was even more so. Understanding didn’t help though, it just muddled his head further.  
  
A thought invaded his mind- just one, it’ll be fine. He tried to ignore it, but as he got within sight of the restaurant the pull got stronger.  
  
_It’ll take the edge off, you deserve it._  
  
He knew he was making a mistake. He’d told them he was going to take a run along the beach, which he had, but once he got close Galdin Quay he found his feet were carrying him straight towards the bar. He knew he should’ve stayed the fuck away. If only he’d managed to convince Prompto to run with him, but Prompto had complained, his feet were hurting too much from running around hunting monsters all day. So now he was here.  
  
_Better make it a double._  
  
“Double whiskey on the rocks.” The words felt wrong, almost as if someone else were speaking them.  
  
He watched Coctura free pour the whiskey over a sphere of ice set inside a lowball glass. It was poetry.  
  
“Here you are sir, that’ll be 300 gil.” She set the glass down on the napkin.  
  
“Thanks.”  he paid up immediately,  taking his drink to a table he was sure would be fairly obscured from the direction of the campervan, just in case any of the others came to find him.  
  
He could feel his skin prickling, hot with shame. He was almost certain this wouldn’t end well. If he could just get up and leave. He could. Just leave the drink on the table. Go find Prompto, or Ignis. Either of them. Tell them he was struggling.  
  
They’re struggling too, why would you want to add to their problems when you know they are both trying to help Noctis out.  
  
It would be easy, just stand up and walk away. Find help.  
  
_No point letting it go to waste._  
  
He raised the glass to his lips, taking a tentative sip. He felt nostalgic, the taste was still the same as he remembered. Fire and smoke. It burned his throat as it went down, warming his insides.  
  
He’d missed it. So very much.  
  
He knocked back the rest of the glass. Heat spreading through his body. He stood up slowly, made his way back to bar to return the glass.  
  
_See you can’t even feel it, relax it’s fine._  
  
“Brought your glass back.” Gladiolus placed the glass on the bar top.  
  
“Another?” Coctura smiled sweetly.  
  
Yeah, this was definitely a mistake, but he found it really hard to refuse politeness like that. 

“I really shouldn’t… but, okay.”  
  
He sipped this glass more slowly, savouring the taste. As he drained his drink he casually chatted with Coctura about her dishes, the beach and other mundane things. His inhibitions were lowering.  
  
_Feels good. Have another._  
  
“Am I bothering you?” He asked.  
  
“Not at all. You finished with that?” she gestured to the now empty glass.  
  
“No, could I have another?”  
  
“Sure thing.”  
  
Within seconds he’d slammed back his third glass, placing it firmly on the back on the bar. He could feel the his body start to loosen and a tingling sensation at the base of his skull letting him know the alcohol was working.  
  
“Okay, I really should get going now, thanks again Coctura.” he waved a goodbye and started towards the camper.  
  
She laughed. “‘kay . Take care.”  
  
He made it out of the restaurant, but stumbled down the wooden steps that lead onto the boardwalk.  
  
“Shit”

He’d overdone it. He’d failed to take into account that his body wasn't as tolerant to the alcohol as it used to be.

“Fuck, pull it together Amicitia”

He steadied himself, his head was swimming, he’d drunk too much whiskey too fast. He knew he had to go back to the camper soon, he had to face them.

If he ran back he’d certainly fall again. He pressed his face into his hands, numb. So numb. So blissfully numb. He’d have to walk it, but then they’d definitely ask what took him so long. He walked along the edge of the boardwalk.  
  
He stopped, taking time to stare out at the ocean the sun was beginning to set. The sky was turning from pastel blue through to deep purple without a cloud in the sky. His intoxication washed over him, ebbing and flowing like the tide. He realised his mind was empty, it was peaceful.  
  
_Sublime._  
  


* * *

 

Prompto started to suspect something was up, it was the third night Gladio had gone out running, and the third night in a row he’d come back and gone straight into the shower.

Prompto noticed some odd behaviors that started to raise a flag.  
  
Gladio wasn’t as tight during their sparring sessions, he had some obvious openings. He’d started taking coffee in the mornings. He was avoiding intimacy.  
  
Prompto wanted to chalk this all up to being in a shitty situation, they were all stuck there until Noctis was ready to move on. Which meant Gladio couldn’t see Iris, and that was probably what was immediately upsetting him. Although, a thought was niggling in the back of his mind- but he didn’t want to jump to conclusions.  
  
The final clue hit Prompto the next afternoon. They’d spent the morning exterminating Rubyshears on the far side of the beach, and headed back to collect their bounty.

It struck Prompto as strange immediately,  Gladio had built up a report with Coctura. It  wasn’t unlike him, as he was generally a friendly guy who enjoyed talking to people. Only they had hardly spent any time in the restaurant, it was too expensive to eat at.  
  
That niggling thought from the previous day came back.  
  
_What if he started drinking again?_  
  
No, he couldn’t be.  
But it seemed so obvious, he must be.  
  
Prompto cursed himself for being so blind to it, he resolved to go with Gladio tonight when he went running later that day. Try to at least get him to open up a little.  
  
Should he tell Ignis? He should. Maybe. But Ignis didn’t know about Gladio’s issues in the past. No, he’d wait until he had the chance to speak to Gladio first.  


* * *

 

“Hey, wait up!”  
  
The sudden announcement startled Gladiolus from his interior thoughts, it was Prompto. Gladiolus mentally chided himself, realistically how long could he have kept up this routine before Prompto noticed something. His stomach felt heavy in his abdomen.  
  
“Mind if I join you?”  Prompto asked as he caught up. 

“Sure.”  
  
“How far we going?”    
  
“As long as you can stand it, I usually just go wherever my feet take me.” Technically this wasn’t a lie, but the guilt and shame were already swamping him. He felt like he might just drown from that sensation alone. He knew Prompto wasn’t an idiot, if anyone was going to figure out what these evening beach running sessions were actually about it would be him.    
  
“Cool.”  
  
Prompto set a gentle pace to begin with, but Gladiolus’s competitive streak started to take over. He smiled at Prompto wickedly as he started to pick up the pace into a run, pushing them to do laps of the beach. Prompto started to complain by the third.  
  
“Gladio, I- I can’t carry on. Can we take a rest now?”  
  
“Yeah sure.”  
  
Prompto dropped onto the sandy beach on all fours, panting, trying to catch his breath. “Th-thanks.”  
  
He rolled over into a seated position and patted the floor next to him. “You must be tired too big guy, come on, take a seat.”  
  
Gladiolus laughed, he missed this, just the two of them hanging out. When he considered it, this beat the alcohol. Shame surged over him again. Feeling uneasy he sat down next to Prompto. 

“Gladio, c’mere I wanna try something.”

“What?”

Prompto gestured to his lap “Lie down, rest your head, don’t give me that look. Just try!”

“Fine.” Gladiolus was pouting now, he wasn’t exactly sure he liked the idea. He complied anyway. He turned on the spot and lay down, resting the back of his head on Prompto’s thighs. He looked up.

“Now what?”

“Relax.” Prompto began to hum a soft pleasant lullaby, stroking Gladiolus’s hair as he did so.

“This is embarrassing.”

“We’ve done way more scandalous things outside than this, what’s your problem?”

Gladiolus grumbled.

“Just relax! You never let anyone look after you.” Prompto continued his song.

It was... nice actually. Gladiolus concentrated on the passing of the clouds in the evening sky, the sensation of deft fingers carding through his hair and most of all on the sound of Prompto’s voice. He relaxed into it, surprised by how soothing he found it. That was, until his negative emotions began to bubble their way to the surface of his consciousness.  
  
He didn’t deserve this, he didn’t deserve a partner as kind and loving as this. He was a fuck up, and Prompto was… just amazing. Kind, considerate and caring.    
  
“Prom?”

“Uhuh.”  
  
“I- I messed up.”  
  
Prompto looked down at him, eyes full of concern, waiting for him to continue. If he had this why did he even feel the need to drink.  
  
Gladiolus swallowed hard. “I’ve… been drinking.”  
  
“Yeah, I kinda figured.” Prompto had a casual edge to his voice.  
  
“You’re not mad? I don’t understand.” Gladiolus clenched his fists tightly. How did he luck out with this?  
  
“I’m not mad, I’m worried, and I also feel guilty- I tried to convince myself that you weren’t and- I never asked you how you were doing.”  
  
There was a brief moment of silence between them, Gladiolus reached up and pulled Prompto’s head down to his. Their lips met in a brief kiss. Their first in days.  
  
“Please don’t feel guilty, I need to learn how to speak up. It’s just. Hard.”  
  
“Just, let me know if you feel like you’re gonna slip up. I’ll stay with you. We can get through this together. We have before!” Prompto took Gladiolus’s hand, squeezing it gently.  
  
“Prom. You’re too good for me.”  
  
“Damn straight.” Prompto joked. They broke out into laughter together.  
  
Gladiolus felt truly blessed, in his estimation falling off the wagon should involve rejection but Prompto. Prompto was amazing, someone who understood what it was like to be human and too err.  
  
Gladiolus stirred, sitting back up again. He opened his mouth to talk, but closed it again. He didn’t really know where to start.  
  
“Just take your time. We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.” Prompto snuck his hand around Gladiolus’s waist and leant into him.  
  
“I need to.” he took in a sharp breath. “I know that Noctis struggling, y’know. And his depression is kicking his ass right now, but every extra day we stay here i just feel more and more stifled. I want to help him and I don’t know how to without making him shut down. I- I just wanna see Iris. And. Fuck.” He began to tear up.  
  
Prompto just held onto him, not saying anything. It was exactly what he needed.  
  
“I feel like I don’t deserve you Prom.”  
  
“Gladio, I love you. I’m here for you. It’s not about ‘deserving someone’, please remember that.”  
  
“Love you too. Just. Ugh. Stop being so perfect.”  
  
“Never.”  
  
They sat smiling, in each other’s arms, watching the sun go down. Sometime later, in the distance they could hear Ignis calling them for dinner.  
  
It almost felt normal.  


* * *

  
  
Prompto pushed open the campervan door and held it open for Ignis, who had his arms full of funguar and aegir roots.  
  
“Hey we’re back!”  
  
No greetings. Prompto stepped inside and looked around. Noctis was sat on the bed he and Ignis usually shared, with his back turned, hunched over, furiously tapping away at his phone screen.  
  
“H-Hey. Where’s Glad?” Prompto asked tentatively, he could feel dread creeping upon him.  
  
“Don’t care.” Noctis replied.  
  
Prompto started to feel extremely dizzy, he steadied himself on the counter top. Ignis glanced towards him, with a deeply concerned look.  

“N-Noct. What happened?” Prompto struggled, fighting back tears.  
  
Noctis just shrugged, he shut off his phone, lay down and proceeded to aggressively pull the duvet over himself.  
  
“Noct. Please-” His eyes stung, welling up now. “Tell me what happened! How long has he been gone for? Please.”  
  
He didn’t answer.  
  
“Please don’t be like this, fine, I don’t care what happened just tell me, how long has he been out for?”  
  
Still nothing.  
  
“Iggy- I need to find him. He could be in danger! I’ll have my phone, please- take care of Noctis. I’ll be in touch.”  
  
Ignis was startled. “Prompto- I don’t understand they’ve argued before. He’ll come back when he’s cooled off.”  
  
“Iggy, he’s- he’s not been doing well. I’ll explain later but right now, I really need to go.”  
  
It was beginning to get dark.  
  
“Prompto, stay safe okay?” Ignis offered as Prompto hopped down the steps of the camper onto the sand.  
  
“I will.”  
  
He sprinted off towards the restaurant as fast as he could, praying Gladiolus was still there.  
  
Wheezing and sweating he travelled up through the restaurant towards the bar area.  
  
“C-  Co… Coctura!”  
  
“Hey! Hey! Take a breather, what’s wrong?”  
  
“Glad. Gladiolus.” His lungs burned. He gulped in a breath. “Have you seen Gladiolus?”  
  
“No, he’s not been here today. Why?”  
  
“Need to find him. He- He had an argument with Noct.” Prompto doubled over catching his breath.  
  
“Well, I’ll keep an eye out- Hey if you leave your number here I’ll call you.”  
  
“Th- Thanks!” Prompto straightened himself up, Coctura offered him a pen and a napkin. He jotted his number down as clearly as he could, though his hands were shaking from the exertion.  
  
_Where could he be though?_    

Prompto wandered down the boardwalk, he spotted the shop shack. His heart sank, if Gladio hadn’t gone to see Coctura then there was a possibility he’d fallen off real bad.  
  
He approached the shop keeper “Hey, I’m looking for my friend, he’s a big guy, tattoos. Have you seen him recently?”  
  
“Yeah he was here about half an hour ago, I sold him a bottle of whiskey and he went down there.” The man pointed towards the white wooden staircase which lead to small partially secluded seating area.  
  
“Ah thanks!” Prompto said cheerily, doing his best not to cry out. Prompto managed a casual jog away from the shop and down the stairs. He reached the bottom and saw him.  
  
Not sat at any of the tables but hidden away under the staircase itself.  He was sat on the ground, his arms crossed resting on top of his knees and his head buried in the crook of his elbow. It was hard to avoid looking at the half empty bottle of cheap whiskey clutched in his hand. Prompto got close and sat down next to him, looking up at his face through the gap his limbs created.  
  
Their gaze locked, Gladio’s face was red and puffy, tears began to fall from his eyes. Prompto opened his arms widely, Gladio fell into them, letting the bottle fall onto the sand, spilling it’s contents.  Gladio gripped onto Prompto’s torso a little too tightly and heaved heavy sobs into his chest.  
  
“I’m so happy I found you, I was so worried.” Prompto whispered softly, stroking Gladio’s hair.  
  
Gladio loosened his grip and pulled up his head to reply. “I f-fucked- up.” Gladio slurred.  
  
“Shh. It’s okay.”  
  
“S’not’m pathetic.”  
  
This was too much, Prompto couldn’t hold his own emotions back anymore. He started to cry too, but silently trying not to draw attention to himself. Gladio still noticed.  
  


* * *

  
He couldn’t get his head straight. His mind was running around in loops trying to figure out what he should be doing but the answers eluded him. He’d fucked up, he’d fucked up terribly. Now he’d made his boyfriend cry and he couldn’t do anything about it.  
  
He didn’t even feel like he had the strength to move.  
  
“Fuck- Prom. ‘S me, my fault. ‘M so sorry.” he forced out his words, his numbed face doing it’s best to garble any attempts at coherency. “Please. Don’t cry.”  
  
Is this all it took? One argument with Noctis. Just one argument to completely fuck everything beyond repair. He wasn’t fit for his position, he wasn’t fit for the mission. Images of his father, and of Iris flashed into his mind, he’d let his family down.  
  
And Prompto. Prompto did not deserve to be pulled down into this shit.  
  
And yet here he was. Clinging on like a parasite. The heavy level of intoxication made him feel as though he would fall forever if he let go. He was completely and utterly disgusted with himself.  
  
“I can’t help it Gladio. I let you down. Again. I wasn’t there for you.”  
  
“No. Prom. Fuck-” Gladio sat bolt upright, his stomach swirling with severe nausea.  
  
“Gladio?”  
  
“Feel sick.” Gladio leant forward. It seemed to reduce the intensity, his stomach settled slightly.  
  
“You gonna be okay?”  
  
“Y-Yeah, should be.”  
  
“I know you really don’t want to but- we need to get you back, and get some water in you.”  
  
“They gon’ know. I- I-” He slammed his fist into his leg. “I’m horrible Prom.”  
  
“You’re not horrible, this situation is horrible. Glad. It’s circumstance, you know they care about you too right?”  
  
“Guess.”  
  
“Come on Gladio, you think you could stand up?”  
  
He grunted, pushing himself off of the floor. He swayed, and managed to prop himself up against the wall. Everything was spinning, his head, his stomach, the entire fucking beach. He fought against his body's’ urge to throw up, he breathed slowly trying to calm everything down.  
  
“Okay?” Prompto was so attentive, so caring. Gladiolus found it intolerable, guilt seethed through him.  
  
“Thinkso.”  
  
“Put your arm around my shoulder. I’ll try to support you best I can.”  
  
Gladiolus obeyed, he wasn’t in any position to do otherwise. He tried to be careful not to lean his full weight on Prompto but he found he had no real control over it. He could feel Prompto struggling, but was unable to adjust correctly.  
  
“Sorry.”  
  
“It’s fine. We can do this, together. You ready?”  
  
Gladiolus nodded, and immediately regretted it. His blurred vision made it hard enough to concentrate on where he was looking without any sudden head movements.  
  
They started forward, slowly. Prompto was keeping his steps perfectly in rhythm with Gladiolus’s, they reached the stairs. Gladiolus reached for the railing with his spare hand to steady himself. They took it one excruciating step at a time. It seemed like an eternity until they reached the top.  
  
“You good?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“Okay, just about 5 minutes across the sand buddy, you think you can make it?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
Slowly but surely they did, however his stomach was burning furiously. They had reached the door of the camper and Prompto knocked on it loudly.  
  
“Prom, ‘m gonna be- sick.”  
  
Ignis opened the door, Prompto pushed past him and opened the bathroom door, Gladiolus followed, still swaying, and nearly tripping up the metal stairs. Prompto lifted the toilet seat and forcefully pushed Gladiolus onto his knees. Gladiolus was extremely grateful for this, since he found that he was unable to suppress it anymore.  
  
Retching acidic bile, his gullet stinging, flavours he wished he could forget resurfacing. He began to cry again.  
  
When it was over Prompto pulled him up and shoved his toothbrush into his hand. He’d already put toothpaste on it.  
  
“Thanks?” Gladiolus couldn’t read Prompto’s expression. He brushed his teeth and tongue, extremely grateful to get rid of the taste. After he was done Prompto guided Gladiolus round to their bed.  
  
Noctis was sat opposite them just staring, it seemed he was completely shocked. He didn’t utter a word.    
  
“Ignis we need like, five pints of water.” Prompto commanded. Ignis complied immediately bringing them over on a tray.  
  
“Drink.”  
  
Gladiolus drank up, as he did he looked up at Prompto. Alcohol tinted memories came back to him that had been faded with time. This had happened before, and Prompto had been there then too. A brilliant beacon of hope, a lighthouse even, stopping him from sinking.  
  
He finished up the water. “Thanks Prom.”  
  
Prompto sat down next to him. “Feeling any better?”  
  
“Kinda.”  
  
“Lie down, Iggy get a bucket just incase.”  
  
As Gladiolus lay down he could hear Ignis scrambling. He ended up grabbing the small plastic bin from the bathroom and passing it to Gladiolus, who hugged it to his body as he lay.  
  
“‘M gonna sleep.”  
  
“You’d better.” Prompto flashed a smile at him as he closed his eyes. He pushed down his doubts and tried to concentrate on that beautiful smile as he drifted off.  


* * *

  
“Okay, he’s asleep now.” Prompto said letting out an exasperated sigh.

“Prompto, I’m rather concerned. I think it’s important for you to explain exactly what happened here?”

“Uhh, sure but let’s sit outside, I really don’t wanna wake him.”

Ignis nodded opening the door. The three of them seated themselves on the plastic furniture, pulling together closely.

Prompto steadied his breathing, looking from Noctis to Ignis and finally began to explain.

“Gladio, he’s… Urgh, why is this so hard? B- before- back in Insomnia when me and Noctis were still in High School he developed… well, a drinking problem. We never told you two about it because at the time it was still too raw and we didn’t want to burden either of you. I guess that habit just carried forward, it shouldn’t have, we should’ve told you. And like, he’s been really struggling since, well, all this stuff happened. He’s not good at talking about it. I guess he just like, snapped today.” Prompto was rambling, trying really hard to get everything across, he also felt weird for talking on Gladio’s behalf but, it couldn’t be helped.

Noctis and Ignis were silent. Noctis kept glancing over at Ignis with a pleading look. Ignis, took the cue and spoke first.

“I feel terrible that Gladiolus couldn’t tell us, we might’ve been able to prevent the situation. I fear, we’ve always seen him as a rock and perhaps, even used his strength as a crutch without ever questioning it.”

“I-I don’t think it’s any one person’s fault here...” Prompto added weakly.

“It’s all my fault.” Noctis spoke in monotone, as if stating a fact.

“Noct, no!” Prompto retorted.

Ignis followed up with “Now Noctis, don’t-”

“Iggy, it is though. I’m the one he has to protect. I’m the one who always fights with him. It’s me who…” Noctis gritted his teeth.

Prompto couldn’t bear watching his friend do this to himself, he stood leant forward and grabbed Noctis’s hand. “Noct, please, don’t beat yourself up. The best thing we can do now is try to be more open and honest with each other. Okay?”

Noctis nodded, though he didn’t seem convinced.

“I can agree to that.” Ignis responded, he then proceeded to change the topic. “Shall we have dinner? I could make a risotto from all funguar we collected.”

“Sounds nice. “ Prompto agreed.

“Fine, but only if you cut the funguar up real small.” Noctis complained.  
  


 

* * *

  
Gladiolus was awoken by his dire need to urinate. His eyes snapped open, the mother of all headaches gripped his skull, irritated by the bright light of dawn scattering into the room through thin curtains.

Prompto had fallen asleep on him and was now clinging to his form. He nudged Prompto and tried to tell him to let go, but all that came out was a hoarse rasping noise. His throat was extremely dry, how could it be that he needed to pee so much but was so excruciatingly thirsty? He coughed, clearing his throat, and tried again.

“Prom, let go of me.”

Prompto’s eyelids fluttered open.

“Oh hi, and good morning to you too.” He said flippantly.

“No really Prom let go. I need to pee.”

“Oh!” Prompto relinquished his grip.

Gladiolus dashed to the bathroom to relieve himself, the sound of movement woke up the others but he really couldn’t care.

As he was washing his hands he checked his face in the mirror, no surprises he looked absolutely dreadful, the colour had washed out of his face and his eyes were haunted by dark circles.

He walked back into the room to find Ignis already pouring hot coffee into some cups. He automatically handed one to Gladiolus.

“Th-Thanks.”

“That’s quite alright. How are you feeling this morning?”

“To be honest Iggy, I feel like shit… But I deserve it.” Gladiolus stared down into his coffee watching beige bubbles spin around slowly on the surface of the liquid.

“I don’t agree with that sentiment at all.” Ignis replied sternly.

“You should.”

“Glad, stop it. You’re not helping yourself.” Prompto scolded him.

Gladiolus shrugged, he didn’t know how to respond. He felt strangely disconnected. He found it hard to reconcile his feelings about himself with the words of his friends.

He went to join Prompto, sitting down on the bed next to him, cradling his coffee. Prompto slid behind Gladiolus, kneeling on the bed he draped his arms over Gladiolus’s shoulders, kissing the crook of his neck briefly before resting his head there.

“You know I only tell you off because I care, right?”

“I know Prom. I’m sorry.” Gladiolus said before giving his lover a light peck on the cheek.

The bed opposite them let out a low creak as Noctis pulled himself to an upright position. He sleepily rubbed his eyes before opening them slowly. He screwed his face up at the light coming in through the window. “Urgh, why are you all up? It’s so early.” he mumbled.

“I think you’ll find it’s only 9am, a respectable time to wake up.” Ignis said as he sat next to the Prince. Noctis didn’t respond vocally, instead he leant into Ignis, burying his face in the soft silk of the coeurl print dress shirt.

There was an awkward silence after everyone settled, Gladiolus could feel guilt tugging and pulling away at his insides. He knew he needed to say something, to at least begin to address what a mess of a human he was.

“Noct, I’m. I’m sorry for how I acted yesterday, I didn’t mean to get angry at you. And...” He struggled trying to find someway to explain himself.

“Gladio- It’s my fault too, I’ve been so wrapped up in my own shit that I didn’t think about anyone else. I’m sorry. You’ve been there for me and, I didn’t even notice you were struggling.” A dark look set into the Prince’s features.

Gladiolus was deeply uncomfortable, he was supposed to be strong, he wasn’t supposed to struggle. He was supposed to support his Prince. As the Shield. Not get babied. He felt so weak, but couldn’t vocalize it. Prompto must’ve noticed the tension, he started to massage small circles with his fingers at the nape of Gladiolus’s neck. It relaxed Gladiolus enough for him to form a coherent thought.

“I need to learn to talk more, be more open.”

“I think we could all do with that.” Ignis responded, he looked contemplative.

“Yeah... “ Noctis added.

“But let’s take our time yeah? I don’t think I could deal with being mushy all the time.” Prompto joked attempting to lift the mood.

“You’re always mushy Prom.” Noctis shot back.

“Whatever Noct.”

“I do believe Prompto’s idea has merit though. We shouldn’t overload ourselves, at least not before breakfast.” Ignis got up and made towards the kitchenette.

From here the conversation fell into casual banter about what to have for breakfast, and their plan for the day. Except, it felt more natural than it had in weeks. It was comforting. Gladiolus knew that they all had issues to work through but ultimately, they all cared deeply for one another. And, they could get through this.

Together.

**Author's Note:**

> This was equal parts cleansing and challenging to write. I've had my own issues with alcohol in the past, so yeah I drew on some personal experience for this. 
> 
> Please check out my tumblr if you like this, I'm fairly active there and wouldn't say no to more fandom interaction! https://its-polaroid-memories.tumblr.com/
> 
> Feel free to message me about FFXV or even send me prompts if you like! 
> 
> Thanks for reading :)


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